Accounting machine



Dec. 5, 1939. w. A ANDERSON ACCOUNTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR MATE/Q ,4. A/VDf/RW/V ATTORNEY QM. i In..-

Dec. 5, 1939. w. A ANDERSON ACCOUNTING MACH INE Filed Feb. '7, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR [WIN ER ,4. ANDERSON ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 1939UNITED STATES ACCOUNTING MACHINE Walter A. Anderson, Bridgeport, Oonn.,assignor to- Underwood Elliott Fisher Company. New York, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware Application l 'ebruary 7, 1938, Serial No. name1 Claim.

This invention relates to accounting machines, and more particularly tomeans for accommodating and feeding cards that are adapted to be printedon such machines.

3 It has been found that many business establishments use cards forkeeping various records, the upper portion of the cards being preprintedwith identifying data, and the lower portion being left blank to receivea limited number of entries 10 by the printing mechanism of anaccounting machine.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide suitableguiding, holding, and feeding means to handle such cards.

ll With this and incidental objects in view, the invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, theessential elements of which are set forth in appended claim, and apreferred embodiment-of 20 which is hereinafter described with referenceto the drawings which accompany and form part of the specification.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of an account- 25 ing machine having apaper carriage embodying the present invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the paper carriageshowing the invention,

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the 30 paper carriage takenfrom the right side of the machine, and shows the parts in position tohave a card inserted for printing, and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the position of the partsafter a card is inserted 5 and the front feed bail closed.

The accounting machine I (Figure 1) has a traveling paper carriage 2,and is similar to that disclosed in the co-pending application SerialNo. 581,800 of Oscar J. Sundstrand, filed Decem- 40 her 18, 1931, andUnited States Patent No. 2,060,954, issued to Oscar J. Sundstrand on May9, 1932. As fully disclosed in Patent No. 2,060,954, a front feed bail 3(Figure 2), having side arms 4 (Figures 1 and 2) connected by rods 45 5and 6, is pivoted at its opposite ends on two similar studs 1, only oneof which is shown in the drawings. Arms 4 are held in engagement withstuds 1 by pins 8, one of which is shown in Figure 2.

50 Figure 3 shows the front feed bail 3 in what is commonly known as itsopen position. When in this position, the operator may place recordmaterial in printing position by inserting it downwardly past the platenfrom a position- 55 above and in front of it. The bail is then closed tothe position shown in Figure 4 by the operator pushing it toward therear of the machine. In closing, the bail pivots about studs I and bendsthe inserted record material around the portion of the platen that isopposite the printing type. 5

The bail is retained in either its open or closed position by a detentIi pivoted to the left hand arm 4, and tensioned against a stud l2 onthe frame of the carriage by a spring l3, detent ii being provided withtwo notches to hold the bail in either its open or closed position.

A link i4 (Figure 2) is connected to arm 4 by a pin and slot connectionand is secured to a plate l5 pivoted at its lower right and left handcorners in the carriage frame, as illustrated at Hi. When the front feedbail is open, the upper end of link l4 moves forwardly, tilting theupper edge of plate l5 forwardly a short distance. The above parts areprovided for accommodating the customary statement sheets and otherfront fed forms, and is substantially the same as the correspondingmechanism disclosed in Patent No. 2,060,954.

For the purpose of inserting and feeding cards the following parts areprovided.

A series of pressure rolls i1 (Figure 2) lie immediately below theplaten and are supported between side arms l8, there being two arms i8for each roll ll. Arms l8 are pivoted on brackets 2 I a separate bracketbeing provided for each pressure roll. The brackets are secured to theunder side of achannel bar 22 secured in the carriage frame. A rod 23 issecured between the two arms of each pair, and acts as a brace to insureuniform movement of the arms. Cams 24, one for each rod 23, are securedto plate [5 and overlie rods 23. Rolls l'l are normally held in contactwith platen 25 by springs 26 connected between arms i8 and channel bar22. When front feed bail 3 is in its closed position, illus- 40 tratedin Figure 4, earns 24 do not bear against rods 23, but when the frontfeed bail is moved to its open position, illustrated in Figure 3, cams24 press rods 23, downwardly, moving the pressure rolls away from theplaten. When the front 5 feed ball is again closed, springs 26 returnthe pressure rolls toward the platen, holding the inserted card,illustrated by the arrows in Figures 3 and 4, firmly against the platen,so that when the platen is rotated the card is fed up- 5 wardly.

To facilitate insertion of the card into the machine, rods 5 and 6(Figure 2) are cut away to accommodate a bracket 21 secured to rods 5and 6 by four screws 23, two at the left side of bracket :1, as shown inFigure 2, and m at the right side, not shown. Il'wo blocks ll, only oneof which is shown, are secured to bracket 21, and have secured theretotwo angle plates 32, only one of which is shown. To their forwarddownwardly extending portions, each angle plate 32 has secured thereto aguide 33, the two guides together forming a chute for the cards. Guides33, as shown in Figure 2, consist of rear portions having their upperedges bent toward the rear of the machine and relatively smaller frontportions having their upper edges bent toward the front of v themachine, the front and rear portions being connected by flanges 34. Whenthe front feed bail is in its open position, shown in Figure 3, the cardis inserted in the chute, the latter automatically directing it betweenthe platen and the upper tapered ends 35 of arms l8, these tapered endsacting as a further guide to direct the card over and behind thepressure rolls ll. Further insertion of the card brings it into contactwith a surface 36 of an irregularly shaped plate 31 secured to channelbar 22, the surface 36 directing the card downwardly until it strikes asurface 38 on plate 31. Surface 3! forms a positive stop for the card,informing the operator that it is fully inserted.

The front feed ball is then closed, bending the card around the platen,as illustrated in Figure 4. As mentioned above, when the front feed bailis closed, pressure rolls I! press the card against the platen, so thatafter each printing operation the platen may be rotated to feed the cardupwardly for printing in successive line space positions of the card.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the card chute and feeding mechanism may besituated at one side of the carriage, leaving space for insertion of thecustomary ledger sheet I by the front feed mechanism illustrated inPatent No. 2,060,954. In addition to this. the customary tally strip 42maytbe fed around the platen behind the ledger shee While the form ofmechanism herein shown and described-is admirably adapted to fulfill theobjects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intendedto confine the invention to the one form of embodiment herein disclosedfor it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms all coming withinthe scope of the claim which follows. 7

What is claimed is:

In a machine of the class described, a platen rotatable on a fixedpivot, front feed mechanism including a pivoted bail movable toward andaway from the platen and supporting one or more pressure rolls forholding the work sheet against the platen, the bail also having anoffset portion supporting a card chute, the chute being composed ofspaced guide members located at each side of the chute, each guidemember having a front and rear portion lying in close proximity to eachother so that inserted cards will be accurately directed downwardly,other pressure rolls lying beneath the printing point, and means formoving said other pressure rolls toward and away from the platen incoordination with the movement of the front feed bail, to hold aninserted card firmly against the platen. I

WALTER A. ANDERSON.

